SoundArchivesandCreation

IntangibleCulturalHeritage,MuseumsandInnovation

Aubusson,February5-6th,2019

MadeleineLeclairCurator,DepartmentofEthnomusicologyHeadofAIMP(Archivesinternationalesdemusiquepopulaire)

Thecase:•  SoundarchivesoftraditionalfieldrecordingsfromAfrica,America,Asia,Europeand

Oceania•  Contemporarymusiccreationsbasedonthesoundarchives

ConstantinBrăiloiurecordingRomanianmusicians.Around1930. JeremyYoung.CompositionofThePoeticsofTimeSpacebasedontheMEG‘ssoundarchives.2016.

Startingpoint:SoundChamber(2014)•  VideoinstallationbyAngeLeccia,visualartistandJulienPerez,composer•  Seriesofvisualandmusicalcompositionswhichillustratethequalitiesandcoloursof

thesoundsproducedbythevariousmusicalinstruments•  Appliedresearchprojetonarchivesandcreation

Practitionersinvolved:•  Traditionalmusiciansbutalsoeveryonepresentduringtherecordings

Romania,surroundingsofBucarest.GroupofRomanianmusicians.2008

Cooperationbetweenpractitionersandcurator:•  Feedbackaftertherecordings(duringfieldwork)•  WorkingandmeetingsessionsinGenevawiththeparticipantsintherecordings

LaurentAubertduringasoundrecordingsession,Kerala(SouthIndia).1999.

DavidA.BoxleyandhissonDavidR.Boxley,TsimshianartistsfromAlaska,studyingtheMEGcollections.2018

SafegardingICH:•  Digitization•  Metadata•  Phonogramspreservedinaspecialair-conditionedroom•  Freeaccesstothemusiclounge(library)

Consultationinterfaceofthe16,000hoursofsoundrecordingsoftheMEGarchives.

Listeningtosoundarchivesinfreeaccesstothemusiclounge.2014

OtheractionsforsafegardingICH:•  Documentation•  Initiationofalegalworkinggroup•  Acquisitionpolicy•  Returnofsoundrecordindstothecountryoforigin

Brazil,StateofPará,Cateté.KayapóXikrin.PhotobyA.Fontanet,2013.

DocumentationofsoundarchivesfromtheGulfcountrieswiththedonorPaulMattar.2016

Surprisingresultslinkedtothecreationsbasedonsoundarchives:UnanimousconsentabouttheprincipleoftheprojectANDdiscrepancyaboutproceduresforexecutingit•  Reactionofthesourcecommunities•  Reactionofthegeneralpublic•  Reactionoftheartistsinvolvedintheproject•  Reactionoftheresearchersandscholars

LivemixwithLPs(duplicate)oftraditionalmusicpreservedintheMEG’sarchives.2018

Referenceto«Innovation»:1.Methodology:

relativelycommonpracticeinclassicalmusicrareinelectronicmusicpragmaticwayofbringingtogether:curators,sourcecommunity,artists

2.Form:transformationofarchivaldocumentsbydifferenteffectsusuallyreservedforpopandelectronicmusicdeviationfromtheinitialcontextofperformance

TranscriptionbyBélaBartókofatraditionalmelodyinterpretedbyasingerofDoboz,southwesternHungary.1906

CuttingandassemblingdifferentsoundsourceswiththeWaveLabsoftwarefortheAmazonianSoundStoriesprojectpresentedattheMEGin2016

FocusonICH,museumsandinnovationinrelationtotechnologyandsensorialexperiences*SoundChamber=Asophisticatedsoundsystemprovidingdiffusioninsideasmallroom.*Theexperiencethatisproposedistoapprehendbythesensitivearelativelycomplexnotion–musicaltimbre.*Focusontheheuristicvalueofthesensoryexperience,asacomplementtotheintellectualizeddatatransmission.

ThecomposerJulienPerezintheSoundChamber,MEG’spermanentexhibition.2014

VisualizationofthespectralcompositionofasoundwithAudioSculptsoftware.2018

Motivations*Toexploretheexhibitiondevicesofmusicandthecontributionofmusicinobject-basedmuseography.*Innovativemediationproposalforthegeneralpublicaroundaspecializedcollection.*Sourcecommunityparticipationatthestartingpointofaproject;toallowthemtoreinvesttheirsoundheritage;involvethemintheheartoftheproject.*Toopenadebateandreflectiononthethemeofcreativeappropriation(legal,ethical,andphilosophicalquestions).

Listeningdeviceforsoundarchivesinthepermanentexhibition.2014

ChallengesThemaindifficultyistoreconnectwithpeopleconcernedbythearchives:problemofgeographicaldistance;problemofculturaldistance.Tomakeanadjustmentwiththeartistsconcerningthecontentsofthearchivedmusic.Tocontactnon-westernersmusicianstoparticipatetothecreationproject.Toreallyfacetheresultsofwhatwedo:whatwouldhappenifoneofthecompositionprojectshadrealcommercialsuccess?

Howdidthemuseumgoaboutintacklingchallenges?Themaindifficultyistoreconnectwithpeopleconcernedbythearchives:problemofgeographicaldistance;problemofculturaldistance-benefitfromthepassageinGenevaofpeoplefromthesourcecountriesorcommunitiesfromwhichthearchivescome-contactanetworkofethnomusicologistsandresearcherswhohavecontactsinsourcecountries

Tomakeanadjustmentwiththeartistsconcerningthecontentsofthearchivedmusic-pedagogyandseveralmeetingswiththeartistsTocontactnon-westernersmusicianstoparticipatetothecreationproject-trytoexpandmynetworkinthemiddleoftheelectronicmusicscene,ormusicianswhoarelikelytobeabletoparticipateintheprojectofcompo.Toreallyfacetheresultsofwhatwedo:whatwouldhappenifoneofthecompositionprojectshadrealcommercialsuccess?-consultationwithspecializedorganizationsinthefieldofeditoriallaw-toidentifyanetworkofacademicsandarchivecentersthatreflectonthesequestions-settinguptheresearchprogramentitled"Soundarchivesandcreation“,involvingspecialistsandstudents

Positivesresultsoccured-  Contactandcommunicationbetweenpeopleofdifferenthorizons,onasametopic

foralltosee

-  ThedebateontheroleandresponsibilityofamuseuminthedevelopmentofitsICHisopen

-  Fruitfultrackstodevelopthereflectiononcreativeappropriation